A Thinking Reed

Theocracy on the march

Written by

Lee M.

in

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State are concerned about President Bush’s nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court:

[Barry] Lynn noted that research by Americans United’s Legal Department uncovered two cases dealing with government-sanctioned display of religious symbols, with Alito upholding the religious displays both times. In another case, Alito ruled that a public school was required to post flyers and distribute materials for a fundamentalist Christian group on the same basis as secular community groups.

Ooo! Scary! A nativity scene on the town square! I assume one of the cases they’re referring to is this one. Decide for yourself, dear reader, if this sounds like the erosion of constitutional freedom:

A federal appeals court panel has ruled that a revised holiday display in front of a government building in Jersey City, N.J., does pass constitutional muster.

In 1995 the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, representing a group of citizens, sued the city arguing that a holiday display in front of City Hall violated the separation of church and state.

A U.S. District Court barred Jersey City officials from maintaining the display that included a menorah and a Christmas tree, ruling that the display did flout the First Amendment’s establishment clause. After that ruling, city officials erected a modified holiday display that included a crèche, menorah, Christmas tree and large plastic figures of Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman. The new display also featured Kwanzaa symbols on the Christmas tree. Eventually, the federal district court also found that display to be constitutionally suspect and ordered the city to take it down.

A panel for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision Feb. 17 in favor of the city and its modified holiday display. Voting 2-1, the panel found that Jersey City officials could not be prevented from erecting the modified display in the future.

Citing U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving government-sponsored holiday displays, Judge Samuel Alito ruled that “government may celebrate Christmas in some manner and form, but not in a way that endorses Christian doctrine.”

According to Alito, Jersey City’s modified display with various religious and secular symbols could not amount to an endorsement of Christianity or any other organized religion. Alito, furthermore, dismissed the New Jersey ACLU’s argument that the city’s original, unconstitutional holiday display had tainted the modified one.

Look, I don’t doubt there are things not to like about Judge Alito, but the scaremongering of Americans United is getting a bit ridiculous.

Comments

5 responses to “Theocracy on the march”

  1. Joshie

    Is it possible to really celebrate Christmas in a way that is free from Christian doctrine?

    Reply
  2. Lee

    I guess I think that holiday displays can have an expressive function that doesn’t entail government endorsement of religious doctrine. For instance, the Philadelphia Public Library usually displays a Christmas tree, a menorah, and some kind of Kwanzaa tapestry in its main hall. I don’t see how one could infer from that that the library (or the city) endorses Christian doctrine. It seems to be more about acknowledging things that are important to its citizens.

    Though one might wonder, from a Christian perspective, whether it’s a good thing to have these kinds of watered-down pro forma nods to religion.

    Reply
  3. Joshie

    Exactly my point. The same could be said about putting the ten commandments on display or putting God in the pledge. They’re all watered-down nods as you say and they serve to empty those things of religious content.

    Some people have snickered at the Christian Yoga class our friend Jessica (www.soulstretch.org) has been teaching, but I have been reluctant to sign on to other yoga classes because yoga is a real Hindu meditation practice, and if I took it I feel like I would be disrespecting that practice by just paying it lip service. By using some of the forms of yoga but changing changing the context to one of Christian prayer and meditation I feel like I avoid that.

    Reply
  4. Lee

    I am definitely with you in wanting to uphold the integrity of our traditions rather than mix them together into some civil religion tapioca.

    However, I’m torn because I also think it’s natural for people to want to give public communal expression to their most deeply held beliefs.

    On the third hand, maybe it would be better for each community in a given area (Christian, Hindu, etc.) to engage in their own “public” festivals to display their convictions, outside of “official” governmental institutions.

    Robert Wilken seems to suggest something like that in this article:

    http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0404/articles/wilken.html

    He says:

    “If Christ is culture, let the sidewalks be lit with fire on Easter Eve, let traffic stop for a column of Christians waving palm branches on a spring morning, let streets be blocked off as the faithful gather for a Corpus Christi procession. Then will others know that there is another city in their midst, another commonwealth, one that has its face, like the faces of angels, turned toward the face of God.”

    Reply
  5. jack perry

    Is it possible to really celebrate Christmas in a way that is free from Christian doctrine?

    Well, the ancient Romans managed somehow, heh!

    Many Americans celebrate Christmas in a way that is free from Christian doctrine; they decorate their yards with giant Frosty the Snowmen or their homes with red socks, Christmas trees and images of Santa Claus. They exchange gifts, and that’s it.

    This is totally, utterly devoid of Christian doctrine.

    Reply

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